The offseason is “just beginning,” but for all intents and purposes the Rangers are done making major moves. The only lasting major question regarding roster construction is Artemi Panarin’s future, but that likely won’t be resolved until the trade deadline. After July 1, much of the discussion has been on the open Rangers roster spots and figuring out lines. The good news is there will be competition. The bad news is that means nothing is set and no one will agree on anything.
Two open Rangers roster spots at forward
As of the writing of this post, only two lines appear to be “set” by the loosest of definitions. The fourth line will be Adam Edstrom-Sam Carrick-Matt Rempe/Jonny Brodzinski. We can assume the top line will be Artemi Panarin-JT Miller-Alexis Lafreniere, but it’s definitely not set in stone since this operates under the assumption Mika Zibanejad will be a center, not a wing on Miller’s line. I think that’s a fair assumption going forward, but for the sake of this post we will count top-nine spots instead of dedicated lines.
The top-nine is mostly set with Panarin, Miller, Lafreniere, Cuylle, Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Juuso Parssinen, and Taylor Raddysh. But that does leave two open Rangers roster spots. One is most certainly a scoring winger, and that will likely be a competition between Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault.
The other spot is a two-way/defensive wing spot that is either next to Trocheck or Parssinen. Brett Berard will compete for this spot, though it’s unclear who he will compete with. If Zibanejad is a center in a scoring role, that means Trocheck becomes the de facto shutdown center and Berard would be competing with Parssinen. If Zibanejad is a winger, that shifts Lafreniere down a line and Parssinen to center on the third line, and the competition becomes Berard vs. Othmann (most likely).
Still some competition on defense
On defense, the only pair we know for sure is Vlad Gavrikov-Adam Fox. Chris Drury wouldn’t commit to it in his interviews, but that’s mostly because he doesn’t want to step on Mike Sullivan’s toes. You don’t sign Gavrikov to that contract to play him with Will Borgen.
Will Borgen and Braden Schneider are the locks for the roster. It appears Carson Soucy will at least start the season with the Rangers, which leaves one spot on defense open. Urho Vaakanainen is the front runner and can play both sides, but don’t sleep on newly acquired Scott Morrow, who had solid possession numbers in the playoffs against Florida, but was victimized by a .701 SV% from his goalies while he was on the ice.
Morrow is going to force himself into the open Rangers roster spots conversation, and in a big way. The competition is mostly between him and Vaakanainen, though Matthew Robertson could be an interesting 8D sleeper. While Vaakanainen probably has the inside track, Morrow will get a long look.
To fit Morrow, another RD, it seems Braden Schneider–another righty–would shift to left defense. This opens his stick position to better zone exits, but is a bit riskier because an errant pass is through the middle, not along the boards. Still the goal is to fill open Rangers roster spots with talent and then working it out from there. Perhaps Morrow, a more naturally gifted offensive defenseman, can play LD.
It seems likely Morrow will claim one of the open Rangers roster spots since Drury was specifically targeting players that can contribute immediately. Also assuming it’s Schneider that moves to LD, that leaves Soucy-Morrow as the Rangers third pair.
Expect some PTOs
Since it appears Drury and Sullivan are banking on the kids filling the open Rangers roster spots, they will need some level of insurance. We should expect at least one forward and one defense PTO. There are some interesting names out there that could fill open Rangers roster spots in a pinch if the kids aren’t ready, though the PTOs won’t be known or announced until much later in the offseason.
For now, it appears the plan is to have at least two of Morrow, Othmann, Berard, and Perreault fill in those open Rangers roster spots. A nice injection of youth is just what the doctor ordered, but it’s far from a guarantee. Competition breeds improvement, as they say.
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